4 Guilty Of Racketeering

2 acquitted of that charge, 2 walk in trial

It took Broward jurors almost three days to sort out 54 charges against eight defendants accused of dismantling, chopping and shipping stolen vehicles to the Dominican Republic.

On Tuesday, the jury convicted four of the men of racketeering, operating a chop shop and multiple counts of dealing in stolen property. Two of the men were acquitted of the racketeering charges but were convicted of one count each of dealing in stolen property. Two other men were found not guilty.

It had been a 10-week trial of extremes: Eight defendants and 10 attorneys; 44 witnesses, one of whom testified for three weeks; 49 videotapes; 84 audiotapes; and finally, four days of closing arguments followed by three hours of jury instructions.

It took a courtroom clerk about 30 minutes Tuesday to read through the verdicts in Circuit Judge Charles Greene's courtroom.

The Broward Sheriff's auto-theft task force infiltrated the group in December 2003. During a five-month investigation, undercover detectives arranged for the men to work out of a west Hollywood warehouse rigged with video cameras. The defendants were all from Miami-Dade County.

Statewide prosecutor Kathleen George pegged Carlos Torres as the ringleader and Dennis Fernandez as his right-hand man. Torres was convicted of 16 of 18 charges and Fernandez 15 of 17 of racketeering, conspiracy and multiple counts of dealing in stolen property,

The jury also convicted Carlos Jose Davila of four charges: Racketeering, conspiracy, grand theft and operating a chop shop.

Henry Vargas was convicted of six charges: Racketeering, conspiracy, three counts of dealing in stolen property and operating a chop shop.

Luis Rafael Mendez Francisco and Jose Andres Garcia were convicted of one count each of dealing in stolen property.

Damian de Jesus Grullon was acquitted of racketeering, conspiracy to commit racketeering, dealing in stolen property and grand theft.

Ricardo Avellan was acquitted of insurance fraud and conspiracy to commit insurance fraud.

The racketeering and racketeering conspiracy charges each carry a maximum penalty of 30 years in prison and dealing in stolen property a maximum of 15 years.

Five of the men will be sentenced Dec. 15, and Vargas will be sentenced on Dec. 26.

During last week's closing arguments, defense attorneys said the case amounted to a "cracker-jack investigation" coordinated by detectives akin to "The Three Stooges."

Defense attorneys said the detectives' testimony was untruthful. They urged jurors to discard the state's video and audiotapes, many of which were either lacking in sound or inaudible.

"[The defense attorneys] want to have you believe that the police officers are conspirators in this case. That they're liars, perjurers and conspirators," said George, the prosecutor.

But it was the defendants, she said during a five-hour closing argument, who went to great lengths to turn stolen vehicles into "twins" by outfitting them with vehicle identification numbers from similar, but not stolen, vehicles.

"The government threw a net and drug everyone in like a fisherman," said Grullon's attorney, Anthony Carbone, during his closing last week. "This case is made of inferences, innuendos, insinuations and half-truths."

A male juror seated in the front row nodded.

"Two and a half years for nothing," Carbone said of the time Grullon, a father of five, had been jailed awaiting trial.

Grullon left the courtroom a free man Tuesday. His family swarmed him in the hallway.

Tonya Alanez can be reached at tealanez@sun-sentinel.com or 954-356-4542.